Editor's note: The article published originally in 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

After spending a summer in Turkey, Doug Johnson left Istanbul on Sept. 10, 2011, and arrived in New York City later that day. A storm delayed the connection to Denver, so the plane landed in Cincinnati with plans to head to Denver early on Sept. 11.

At breakfast that morning, Johnson -- a Longmont native who is fluent in Turkish and had lived in Turkey for more than 14 years -- ate with Turkish students coming to Denver to learn English. He had met them the previous night while they waited for hotel vouchers from airline staff, and they arranged to sit in the same row on the flight to Denver.

"While in line to take off on the tarmac, the pilot announced a plane flew into the first tower," Johnson wrote in an email from Turkey last week. "Everyone who understood was shocked, but still unsure what that (meant).

Longmont native Doug Johnson, center, assisted Turkish visitors Teoman Bektas, left, and Oguz Ongelir while the three were stranded in Cincinnati after all U.S. flights were cancelled on Sept. 11, 2001. The three men and their families have become lifelong friends.
(
Photo courtesy Doug Johnson
)

"Soon after, the pilot announced the second attack," and said all planes were grounded, he wrote. The Denver-bound plane returned to the terminal.

Back at the terminal, he pulled aside the students, as well as a Turkish couple, a Turkish grandmother and a Syrian father and son. He explained what happened and offered to make arrangements for their stay in Cincinnati, he said.

"'Just stick with me,' and we will go through this together," Johnson remembers telling the group.

"I felt it was a God-given opportunity to show real love to foreigners in our country, especially those in a crisis," he wrote.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Johnson said he didn't hesitate to help the foreign travelers.

"I'm an extrovert. I love to help people," Johnson said.

Teoman Bektas and Oguz Ongelir, both then 25, stayed in Johnson's room at a Holiday Inn. Ongelir called his brother, Selim, in Boulder, who happened to know Johnson from Turkish events at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

"We were lucky to meet Mr. Douglas during this period," Bektas wrote in an email last week, explaining that Johnson told them what happened, organized everything and made the hotel reservation in Cincinnati.

The group considered driving to Denver, but couldn't find an available car, Johnson wrote. So for three days, he, the six Turks and two Syrians were stuck in Cincinnati.

"All (nine) of us would eat together and talk about life, the crisis and many subjects," Johnson wrote. He worked hard to make sure none of their meals included pork, as Muslims don't eat pork, he added.

"The whole thing was just a huge adventure for us," Johnson said Thursday.

On Sept. 16, the travelers finally made airline reservations and went to the airport. But their adventure wasn't over yet.

"We said goodbye to the Syrians and they gave me a gorgeous tablecloth with a gold-type lining and invited me to their summer home," Johnson wrote.

With the Turks, Johnson went to the gate, expecting to take off.

"While other planes seemed to be departing, ours was constantly delayed for an unknown reason," Johnson wrote.

A Delta Airlines official and a Cincinnati police officer approached the Turks and asked them to come to a back room, he wrote. "I intervened and explained they did not know English but I could help translate."

"'Then you come back with us also,' the officer said sternly," he wrote.

After questioning the visitors and searching their luggage, everyone was released. However, the plane was further delayed until a federal marshal arrived for the flight as well.

When the flight finally arrived in Denver, the Turkish grandmother met her son, who lived in Pueblo; the couple returned to their Denver home; and Johnson was reunited with his wife.

But others at the airport greeted Bektas, Ongelir and Johnson, as well.

"We were shocked to see a whole group of Turks from Boulder that had come to the airport to meet us all," Johnson wrote. "They all hugged me and gave me Turkish kisses."

On the telephone, Johnson added, "I felt honored ... that they would show their appreciation so openly."

Johnson and the men saw each other several times while Bektas and Ongelir lived in Boulder, and have visited again in Turkey.

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